It is our honor to nominate Nancy Campbell for Employee of the 2nd Quarter. Words do little justice in describing this outstanding employee and person. Nancy inspires us by the hard work and dedication she exhibits every day she puts on her GPI uniform. She is quick to smile and have a kind word for all those who are fortunate to cross paths with her. She performs her duties with grace and dignity; not coincidently, the same way she treats others.

Nancy served on the previous Culture Council and was always front and center when Culture came calling. From manning tables in front of the Melting Pot to painting the smoking bathrooms to getting up at 4AM on her day off to work “crowd control” at the Culture yard sale, Nancy gave her best to live the Culture of GPI. None of this is surprising to anyone who knows her, especially those who have been lucky enough to work with her. The words “can’t” and “no” do not seem to be in her vocabulary.

It is said that the little things in life make the biggest difference. They must have been thinking about Nancy Campbell when they wrote that. We are fortunate to have Nancyas a purchasing teammate; uniquely OURS, uniquely YOURS!

Congratulations to Gary Pounders, our 1st quarter of 2011 Employee of the Quarter. Gary has been a member of The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa family for 3 years, and he is dedicated to our Vision,Mission and Values. Here is what the Resort Manager who nominatedGary had to say:

“Gary Pounders is a living example of Grove Park Inn’s finest! As one of our Security Team Leaders,Garytakes on quite a bit of responsibility for the safety and security of our guests, employees and Grove Park Inn assets. In addition to his regular duties as a Team Leader for the Second Shift Security Team,Garytakes it upon himself to initiate other responsibilities as he sees the need.

“Gary’s kind, helpful and common sense attitude toward employees and guests alike is the best example of our Grove Park Inn values and culture. He never loses his “cool” to anyone about anything. Gary’s calm, reassuring and confident demeanor comes in very handy when dealing with a guest or employee accident. He has a great “bedside manner,” and many guests who have been attended to byGaryhave commented on how fantastic he was while assisting them.”

More than 100 employees showed up this year to play in the 4th Annual GPI Culture Council Sponsored, Captain Bob’s Golf Tournament. Captain Bob’s Tournament is a popular event here. It has become one of the largest fund raising events for The Legacy Fund. Sponsored and organized by the GPI Culture Council, the tournament allows employees and their families to play on our beautiful Donald Ross course at a very special rate.

The Legacy Fund is a unique collaborative effort with Eblen Charities that provides monetary gifts or interest free loans for GPI Family members in times of need. The Legacy Fund is funded entirely byGroveParkemployees through either direct payroll deduction or through various fund raisers. When a GPI Family member is in need, they can reach out to the fund for assistance- its family helping family, and that’s what we at The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa are all about!

A cookout lunch was provided to the golfers, and the rest of the GPI Family was invited to purchase a lunch plate, with all proceeds benefitting the Legacy Fund. Captain Bob’s Golf Tournament raised $7783.12 for the Legacy Fund. Congratulations to our Culture Council and to all the golfers who helped to make this year’s event such a huge success.

Here at The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa we refer to our co-workers as our family. Part of our mission statement is “Everyone Matters, Everything Counts” and that applies to our employees as well as our guests. Every year the staff at GPI votes on a Rock Solid Leader of the Year and an Employee of the Year. These employees are nominated by their co-workers. We would like to share parts of those nominations with you now as we introduce our 2010 Employee of the Year and Rock Solid Leader.

Rock Solid Leader – LaJuanda Bond

LaJuanda Bond is the senior Meetings Express manager in the Sales Department. If you aren’t sure what Meetings Express does, a quick explanation is that they are a combination of “sales manager, convention services manager, wedding planner, hand-holder, order-taker, creator of special moments…” The list goes on and on. LaJuanda manages to cover most of our Values, and she does it with a joyous spirit. In a normal year, just being one of two Meetings Express managers, handling over 8000 room nights, 250+ group events, and over 3 million in revenue, deserves recognition. In 2010, however, LaJuanda almost singlehandedly managed and ran the Meetings Express Department, as the second manager and assistant positions were constantly fluctuating. While handling this department, training new employees, LaJuanda consistently scores 100% satisfaction from the meeting planners in their group surveys, setting an example for her coworkers.

Employee of the Year – Troy Gentry

Troy Gentry has been a loyal employee for The Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa for over 20 years. Troy has served as a member of our Culture Committee. He has a strong commitment to our corporate culture, mission, vision and values which he demonstrates in everything he does. Troy has had perfect attendance for the whole 20 years that he has work at Grove Park Inn. Troy works closely with our weddings on a daily basis. He personally answers every wedding inquiry that comes into the resort. He takes the time to answer their many questions and always does it with a positive attitude.

Employees at The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa do a lot of things to try and give back to our community. From coat and blanket drives in the winter, to donating our used furniture and appliances to local charities, to raising money to help our fellow employees in need — we are always up to something good at GPI. :) This week, it’s our annual food drive to help out Manna Food Bank.

Like many of our community service activities, the annual food drive at GPI is headed up by our Culture Council. Members have been collecting canned food and other non perishables for several weeks now. Culture members put out big donation bins in several employee areas throughout the resort. Today, we delivered the last of several loads of food to Manna. While today’s donation weighed in at just under 350 pounds, Manna is still totaling up all the food they have collected from our resort while the drive has been underway. But it’s safe to say that the food donated by GPI employees will help feed hundreds of people.

Manna Food Bank nutritionists say the average person needs about 1.2 pounds of food per meal. Over the years, we are proud to have donated thousands of pounds of food to Manna Food Bank to help feed our neighbors across Western North Carolina. Giving back is just a small part of what we here at The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa call legendary service.

Valentines Day is a special time at The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa (GPI). Lovers young and old flock to our resort to celebrate Valentines with our big, cozy fireplaces, award winning restaurants and incredible views. But in addition to taking care of our guests on Valentines, we also share the love with our fellow employees throughout the resort. :)

CANDY GRAM!

Our Culture Council is in the process of selling “Culture Grams” for Valentines Day. For $1, employees can send a card and a candy bar to a fellow employee. The sweet treats will be delivered to employees at their desks, in our kitchens, at our Spa — and even though there’s snow on the ground — we won’t forget those folks down at the golf course. Members of our Culture Council personally deliver the Valentines. Some employees even send Culture Grams to themselves for Valentines. After all — we’re talking chocolate here! :) You will also see roving balladeers throughout the resort on Valentines Day. Many members of our current Culture Council are prolific singers. So there’s gonna be a whole lot of serenading going on come Monday!

The Valentines Day sales and other fundraisers sponsored by our Culture Council have a serious purpose. All the money that is raised goes to the GPI Legacy Fund. The Legacy Fund is a unique collaborative effort with Eblen Charities that provides monetary gifts or interest free loans for GPI Family members in times of need. The Legacy Fund is funded entirely by Grove Park employees through either direct payroll deduction or through various fund raisers. When a GPI Family member is in need, they can reach out to the fund for assistance- its family helping family. And that’s just one more way that we at The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa share the love!

Congratulations to Teofilo Arredondo of our Housekeeping Division and our Employee of the Quarter!

Here is what the person who nominated Teofilo, or Teo as we call him, wrote:

“Teo has all the values you look for in an employee of the quarter recipient. The knowledge, service and character Teo brings to the resort every day is difficult to top. He always stops to say hello to guests and employees, and truly takes pride in GPI. There are few family members at the resort that are as versatile within one department as Teo. In the past several months we have asked him to perform room attendant, house attendant, deep clean and project work. Not included in that list is the floor care, stockroom, public area and evening shift work that Teo has been versatile enough to perform in years past. Chances are, if there has been a position in the housekeeping department for the last two decades, Teo has probably learned and done it well enough to train others.”

“To me, dependability encompasses one who can be asked to do many tasks responsibly while maintaining high standards of quality. Teo has proven himself over and over again in this area throughout many years of service here at GPI. We were lucky to celebrate Teo’s 20th anniversary at the resort in 2010. He has seen many changes take place at the resort in terms of personnel, renovations, new openings and culture changes. What we now identify as the Grove

Park Inn Resort & Spa looked very different when Teo started in 1990. One thing that has stayed the same during that span has been Teo’s dedication and service to our guests. Looking through his 3-folder file, I ran across a note dated to 1993 from the supervisor to the manager in housekeeping at the time. It read: Teofilo Arredondo: He will work day or night. He always gives 100% and he always does his job with a smile. He always makes my job easier by being so agreeable and friendly. I appreciate him and thought you’d like to know. Then and through today, I believe these words are still true.”